Ferre Reggers takes Milan to the Final Four

Italy have qualified for the Final Four of the Cup, which will be played in Bologna on the last weekend of January. Milan pulled off a stunning victory over Piacenza, after they had dropped 6 match balls.

Ferre Reggers was outstanding, scoring 18 points to win the tie-break 20-22! Their opponents will be Perugia, who beat Modena 3-0. The other semi-final will pit Monza (3-1 against Civitanova) against Trentino (3-0 against Verona). And let's not forget the championship, in which Piacenza took revenge on Milan (tie-break). Trentino (still without Wout D'Heer) won 3-0 at Taranto and Padova (Mathijs Desmet 7p - 41%) but lost to Civitanova (3-0).

Some interesting statistics from matchday 1 in Italy's top division: No fewer than 368,891 spectators paid €1,600,000 for tickets. Modena welcomed the largest number of spectators (25,141 spectators in 6 home matches), followed by Piacenza and Verona. Catania attracted just 5,156 spectators in 5 home matches. The largest number of spectators attended Verona - Trentino (5,150) and 856 were present at Catania - Monza.

In Russia, Zenit Kazan (twice without Sam Deroo) won 3-0 against Ugra and Novosibirsk.

In Turkey, Tursad (without François Lecat) won 3-1 against Belediyespor.

Igor Grobelna did not score for Pr. Warsaw, who eliminated Czestochova (3-1).

In Greece, PAOK Thessaloniki (with Markos Galiotos as additional playmaker and Bram Vanden Dries 18p -35%) lost to Olympiakos (1-3).

Without Liam McCluskey, Orion won the Dutch title against Limax (2-3), the only team to have beaten them in the previous round.

Nordenskov (coach Dries Hoeyberghs) suffered an unexpected defeat at Amager (3-2) in Denmark.

Around a hundred Belgian fans descend on Marq et Baroeul to follow Silke Van Avermaet.

In the women's race, Laura Heyrman (8p -64%) won with Milan 3-0 against Trentino. Paula Egonu (20p - 50%) was mvp.
Britt Herbots (4p with few substitutions) also won with Scandicci, beating Busto Arsizio (Dominika Sobolska 0p) 3-1. Also in Italy, Chieri (Kaja Grobelna 11p - 30%) beat Roma (3-0).

In Turkey, Nilufer (Vital Heynen) lost to Galatasaray (3-0).
In Hungary, Bekescsabai (Dominika Strumilo) lost 2nd place in the standings after a 3-0 defeat by direct rival Elore.
Nathalie Lemmens continues to perform well in Germany. With Dresdner and 13P at 53%, she won 3-0 against Vilsbiburg (Pauline Martin 16p - 47%).

Victories and defeats for Lise Van Hecke in Japan at Queenseis: victory 1-3 against Kurobe, defeat 3-0 against Marvelous.

In France, Elise Van Sas was briefly replaced to help Terville win 1-3 at Venelles.

Silke Van Avermaet (15p - 53% - 3 blocks) was named MVP after her Mulhouse team's 2-3 win over Marcq et Baroeul. Around a hundred Belgian fans travelled to the French town to cheer Silke on.

(compiled by Marcel Coppens)